142 



OUR DOMESTIC ANIMALS 



To make it possible for people of small 

 means to enjoy this sport, many hunting soci- 

 eties have been organized, the members of 

 which contribute stated sums for the main- 

 tenance of wolves, deer, hounds, hunts- 

 men, and horses. A red coat and 

 a high hat are obligatory ; the 

 owner of the dogs carries 

 a horn, and all the other 

 participants only a hunt 

 ing crop. 



The animals chietl)' 

 hunted are hares, stags, 

 and foxes. The practice 

 of hunting hares is said 

 to be thousands of years 

 old ; that of hunting stags 

 is also very ancient, and is 

 carried on with animals kept 

 and trained for this purpose. W'l 

 all know the Draconian laws of 

 William the Concjueror (eleventh cen- jypg ^p 

 tury), who ordered that all dogs in a 

 hunting countr}- should have three of their toes 

 cut off to keep them from following the hounds. 



As for fox hunting, which is really the prin- 

 cipal sport, the foxes are cared for and pro- 

 tected in every wav. In some districts a hunt 

 takes place three times a week ; a good horse 



The Favorite 



can be used for two of them, though one is 

 often quite enough for him. Fox hunting is 

 especially hard and fatiguing for hijrses. 



VII. R.XCIXG 



Races under their present form 

 \i I , ../ were first known in Eng- 



--'-'^—J!-- 1 land, where we find them in 



the Middle Ages ; these 

 were frequently like the 

 steeplechases of our 

 day. Such games were 

 called "clock races," 

 and the prizes were 

 enerally little wooden 

 clocks, or clock towers, 

 decorated with flowers ; 

 later these prizes were made 

 m silver. From them comes 

 our term " steeplechase." 

 Race courses were legally organized 

 Hunter ^^ ^^^ reign of James I, who is regarded 

 as the creator of this sport. Charles I 

 organized race courses in H\de Park and at 

 Newmarket, and Cromwell's equerry, Place, is 

 mentioned in the stud book (the register for 

 Thoroughbreds) and in the racing calendar 

 (record book of races) as being the owner of 

 very beautiful Eastern stallions which " shone 

 upon the ground." 



Races, however, did not 

 acquire their full development 

 until the reign of Charles II, 

 who imported Arabian mares, 

 called royal mares. About the 

 year 1700 Eastern stallions 

 were imported, with which the 

 true history' of racing begins. 

 One of the most celebrated race 

 horses was Eclipse, descended 

 in direct male line from the 

 Arabian stallion bought near 

 Aleppo by the merchant Bar- 

 ley ; through his mother Eclipse 

 he also had Oriental blood in 

 his veins. Born in 1764, he was 

 gray in color, tall, and long in 

 body. History tells that he was 



